General Haiku Discussion

The last time I posted here was in 2009, to comment on Alpha 1, and here we are with Alpha 3.

Then my first complaint was Haiku's inability to play video files properly. Well, the video files are now playing. The trouble is that they're silent movies, because support for my C-Media 8738 sound card seems to have disappeared.

The other problem was that I had to use static addressing to connect to my router. Now I've got no networking at all, because the driver for my SiS 900 ethernet port no longer works.

Is creating an operating system that works for everybody an impossible dream? Perhaps, but good luck! I'll be back for the next release.

What do you prefer: Spatial or Browser navigation?

Spatial: Each folder is represented by a single window, meaning a new window is opened for each folder. This is the default mode in Haiku.

Browser: Each folder is opened in the same window. This can be activated in Tracker preferences using Single window navigation.

I did some BeOS graphics programming a long time ago and would like to start again with Haiku, but I'm wondering which APIs I can rely on from now into the future, so that I can overcome expected compatibility issues in any software I release. With Haiku's recent R1 Alpha 3 release, this seems like a good time to ask.

In order to use OpenGL (whether hardware or software rendered), I remember that placing a BGLView inside a BWindow was the legacy method, but R. Jason Sams saw performance issues with the locking model, and so created BDirectGLWindow for BeOS R5.1 (and as a leaked add-on for R5). As Haiku moves forward with Mesa, Gallium, etc., is it known yet whether one of those APIs (BGLView or BDirectGLWindow) will be the preferred method, or at least continually supported? Has there been talk of creating a new API to provide a GL context?

Separately, are there any graphics cards for which Haiku supports hardware 3D acceleration, either now or realistically expected in the near future?

On the 2D drawing front, how well-supported is BDirectWindow for windowed and full-screen drawing? Does it contain its own internal fallback, or do I need to provide a fallback to a regular BWindow for cards not supporting direct framebuffer blitting? Is the Haiku team planning another API to replace this one, or is everyone basically happy with it?

I have tried accessing www.haikuware.com and upon arrival I am asked for a username and password...is the site down? I have tried many links going into the website not only into the homepage and it's the same, it wants a username and password... Help?